quote:China’s national state-run television network has banned all images of pigs from advertisements to avoid offending Muslim minorities, according to a company official.According to the Chinese lunar calendar, 2007 is the year of the pig. Across China, images of the animal are proliferating on billboards and in print advertisements as well as being used in promotional gifts in many shops.There are 18 million Muslims in China, according to official statistics.China Central Television (CCTV), a mouthpiece of the government, told AFP it was keeping images and spoken references to pigs off the screen to avoid arousing ethnic tension.

“CCTV is a national television network… Due to concern over ethnic and cultural habits, we will keep the pig image away from the screen,” said a programme department official, who declined to give his name. “We do not want to cause unnecessary bad influence or hurt the feelings of ethnic groups.”

Global food giant Nestle said it had been forced to scrap a plan to air a new year TV advertisement featuring a smiling cartoon pig due to the state television station’s opposition.

“It explained that this is to show respect to Islam and was a guidance from the higher levels of the government,” said Thierry Vapperaeau, spokesman for Nestle China.

“It is not a big problem… we will change to another cartoon image.”

I am sure that someone will correct me if I’m remembering wrong, but I don’t recall any such banning nonsense by Chinese TV in 1995, the last time the Lunar Calendar celebrated the year of the pig.

Anyone who believes, as the story says, that this ban is being done out of respect and/or sensitivity just ain’t “connecting the dots.”

There is one telling line in the story, though. It is “. . . to avoid arousing ethnic tension”. The Chinese don’t want to have any car bombs going off, and homicide bombers exploding themselves, and etc. so they are acquiescing to the terrorists.